In current discussions about school reform in Germany, the term ‘Individuelle Förderung’ [‘individual fostering’] is of special importance. First, the article will deal with political and administrative requirements derived from this slogan by critically investigating content matter as well as conceptual design of ‘Individuelle Förderung’. Afterwards, challenges for academic research arising from the fuzzy concept will be described. It is argued that much more attention must be paid to school specific concepts of individual fostering as a whole.

Keywords
individual fostering, school development, classroom development, reform imperatives, recontextualization